Elon fires Swepson after three seasons

ELON — Jason Swepson said Monday night that he was left with no regrets about his three years as Elon’s football coach.

Except, of course, that more victories weren’t a product of his tenure.

Hours earlier, he was fired during a brief afternoon meeting with athletics director Dave Blank, the dismissal coming two days after the Phoenix lost its season finale on the last snap from scrimmage and finished 2-10, the program’s worst record in a decade.

“We did the best we could,” Swepson said. “I thought we did the right things in recruiting and developing young men into solid students. We feel like we left a lot of young talent and a foundation for the program.

“The bottom line is we just didn’t win enough football games on my watch. And that’s the nature of the business.”

Swepson’s three teams went a combined 10-24 overall and 5-19 in the Southern Conference and thudded to back-to-back 1-7 records in the league to close the last two seasons.

On the day in January 2011 when Elon officially hired the former Boston College and North Carolina State assistant as its 20th football coach in school history, Swepson arrived in the wake of four straight winning seasons and spoke of maintaining the success his predecessor Pete Lembo had established.

That never was achieved, despite the bonds the personable, 43-year-old Swepson formed with Elon’s players. And so Elon will enter the Colonial Athletic Association next year under new direction.

“I’ve got a lot of good friends out there and I made a lot at Elon,” he said. “It was a great learning experience and I hope I get another opportunity.”

The Phoenix coughed up a 21-0 lead against Appalachian State to lose the final game of the 2011 and end at 5-6 on the season. Then came last year’s 3-8 campaign and ultimately Swepson was terminated with two years remaining on his contract.

So in strictly financial terms, he becomes the latest in a string of substantial commitments for Elon, which, in changing leagues this coming summer, owes the Southern Conference an exit fee of $600,000 and the CAA a sum of $300,000 to join.

Blank preferred not to discuss whether money became a consideration in Swepson’s removal.

“It was just time to make the right decision for our football players,” said Blank, whose voice sounded drained while calling Monday “a tough day.”

The concluding mechanics of things apparently proceeded quickly Monday after Blank returned from Los Angeles, where the men’s soccer team lost at UCLA late Sunday night.

Blank informed Swepson that he was fired in a concise mid-afternoon meeting. Both described the tone as professional. Then Blank conducted a 5 p.m. meeting with the team and revealed the verdict.

“We’re trying to do what we think is best for our student-athletes, to move forward and have a positive experience,” Blank said. “My words to the team were that I expect them to do things the way they know how to do them going forward.”

Swepson, his office dark and the door locked, had left Alumni Field House by that point. He later said he didn’t want to get emotional in front of the players and that it was a proper move for Blank to address the team.

“When Coach Swep didn’t come in there initially, we knew that probably something was up,” linebacker Alexander Dawson said. “People have been talking, obviously. Fans were mad. Parents were mad. So I won’t say that I was shocked, but at the same time, just to actually hear the news, you’re still taken aback by it a little bit.”

The football wing of Alumni Field House mostly was deserted and Dawson twice used the word “surreal” to describe the mood there during the preceding hours.

“It’s obviously rough. Coach Swep was a great dude,” Dawson said. “But with the change being made, you have to look forward and do whatever you can to be successful in the future. You can’t really dwell in the past but for so long.

“The decision was made and I feel like the best thing is to move on and try to work hard for next year.”

Glaring among Elon’s six consecutive losses to end this season were dramatic finishes at Wofford, at Western Carolina in overtime and at Samford last weekend that were decided on the final snaps from scrimmage.

Season-opening blowouts administered by North Carolina (62-0 in 2012) and Georgia Tech (70-0 this year) weren’t sources of pride for Elon supporters and alumni, some of whom bristled at Swepson’s choosing to commute from Raleigh rather than relocate his family closer to campus.

Swepson, the married father of three, opted not to move so his oldest daughter could remain in the same high school. He stayed at a nearby hotel a couple nights a week to reduce the drive back and forth.

Elon’s 27-24 overtime loss at Western Carolina on the last weekend of October felt ominous. Western Carolina stopped its three-year-long, 33-game slide against Division I opponents, including a 26-game skid in the Southern Conference, that day as the Phoenix became a footnote to history.

Two weeks later, the vibe worsened and grumbling pertaining to Swepson’s job status increased when Elon was shut out in the second half of its 35-10 loss to The Citadel on homecoming.

“We had chances. We just didn’t win enough games,” Swepson said. “I have no regrets. Dave gave me a great opportunity. I hope I was a positive influence on all the men I coached.

“I think we did it the right way. We tried to bring in what Elon University wanted in a student-athlete. I think we accomplished that. We just didn’t get the wins.”

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